"There's Something on Your Mind (Part 2)" is a song originally recorded as "There Is Something on Your Mind" in 1957 by

Big Jay McNeely Cecil James "Big Jay" McNeely (April 29, 1927 – September 16, 2018) was an American rhythm and blues saxophonist. Biography Inspired by Illinois Jacquet and Lester Young, McNeely teamed with his older brother Robert McNeely, who played barito ...

. The song credits Cecil James McNeely as its writer, Big Jay McNeely's birth name. The song has been recorded many times since then by

himself with various collaborators.

Background

Though McNeely is listed as the song's writer, he has freely admitted that he purchased the song from

the Rivingtons The Rivingtons were a 1960s doo-wop band, known for their 1962 novelty hit "Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow". The members were lead vocalist Carl White (June 21, 1932 - January 7, 1980), tenor Al Frazier (d. November 13, 2005), baritone Sonny Harris, and bas ...

' vocalist John "Sonny" Harris, who in turn had lifted much of it from a gospel song, "Something on My Mind" by the Highway QCs. The lead vocalist on this original recording was Little Sonny Warner. The song was recorded along his band in a small

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

recording studio A recording studio is a specialized facility for sound recording, mixing, and audio production of instrumental or vocal musical performances, spoken words, and other sounds. They range in size from a small in-home project studio large enoug ...

, and leased more than a year later to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

disc jockey A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include Radio personality, radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at a nightclub or music f ...

Hunter Hancock Hunter Dunagan Hancock (April 21, 1916 – August 4, 2004) was an American disc jockey regarded as the first in the Western United States to play rhythm and blues records on the radio, and among the first to broadcast rock and roll. He was born i ...

's Swingin' Records

label A label (as distinct from signage) is a piece of paper, plastic film, cloth, metal, or other material affixed to a container or product, on which is written or printed information or symbols about the product or item. Information printed dir ...

Chart performance

This first recording reached number 42 on ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

s pop chart and number 5 on the R&B chart in early 1959.

Cover version

In 1960,

Bobby Marchan Bobby Marchan (born Oscar James Gibson, April 30, 1930 – December 5, 1999) was an American rhythm and blues singer, songwriter, recording artist, bandleader, MC, and female impersonator. He was the key singer in the early lineup of Huey "Piano ...

recorded his version. The single was Marchan's most successful release on both the R&B and pop singles chart, where it peaked at number one on the R&B charts and number thirty-one on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100.

Other versions

Versions have been recorded by many other artists, including: *

Freddy Fender Freddy Fender (born Baldemar Garza Huerta; June 4, 1937 – October 14, 2006) was an American Tejano, country and rock and roll musician, known for his work as a solo artist and in the groups Los Super Seven and the Texas Tornados. He was bes ...

B.B. King Riley B. King (September 16, 1925 – May 14, 2015), known professionally as B.B. King, was an American blues singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. He introduced a sophisticated style of soloing based on fluid string bending, shi ...

Albert King Albert Nelson (April 25, 1923 – December 21, 1992), known by his stage name Albert King, was an American guitarist and singer who is often regarded as one of the greatest and most influential blues guitarists of all time. He is perhaps b ...

Etta James Jamesetta Hawkins (January 25, 1938 – January 20, 2012), known professionally as Etta James, was an American singer who performed in various genres, including gospel, blues, jazz, R&B, rock and roll, and soul. Starting her career in 1954, sh ...

Gene Vincent Vincent Eugene Craddock (February 11, 1935 – October 12, 1971), known as Gene Vincent, was an American musician who pioneered the styles of rockabilly and rock and roll. His 1956 top ten hit with his backing band the Blue Caps, " Be-Bop-a-Lula ...

Baby Lloyd Stallworth Lloyd Eugene Stallworth (April 15, 1941 – October 27, 2002), also known as Baby Lloyd, was an American singer, songwriter, musician, recording artist, choreographer and dancerthe Famous Flames The Famous Flames were an American Rhythm and blues, Soul vocal group founded in Toccoa, Georgia, in 1953 by Bobby Byrd. James Brown first began his career as a member of the Famous Flames, emerging as the lead singer by the time of their first ...

) *The Jolly Jacks (who parodied the violence of the Marchan recording)

References

1960 singles Novelty songs 1957 songs Song articles with missing songwriters {{1960s-pop-song-stub